Amazement

Tonight I will focus on our second topic in my New Testament class. We learned in class an interesting association! Our teacher emphasized how in many verses of Mark the people are utterly "astonished"/"amazed" and so forth at Jesus Christ's behavior, most particularly at certain ways that he acts in contrary to the predominant mannerisms of the time among Jews.

Many of the leaders of the time cultivated a hyper conservative interpretation of the Law (in the Holy Scriptures) in Jerusalem and the surrounding Jewish towns. The main groups of religious leadership (remembering that the prophets had ended with Malachi) were the Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes. Especially the Pharisees tried to define religious requirements so ultra conservatively that they even considered it "unlawful" to heal on the Sabbath or expound on doctrine with one's personal conviction.

Such are a few examples:

Mark 1:22 - And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes. (because at the time, when reading in the synagogue, a rabbi would possibly read the scripture and then quote the words from other texts or rabbis, but Jesus, after reading Isaiah, spoke directly that the prophecy was fulfilled in Him)

Mark 5:42 And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. (because He rose the girl from the dead!)

One thing that was especially amazing was that he touched her dead body, something that was considered a most unclean act, when he rose her from the dead. Truthfully, even though he healed on the Sabbath and many were shocked at his audacity, he was humble about it, trying hard to let them know how they needed to change their way of thinking, and remember to focus on the Truth and on his mission.

The Church in modern times has been involved in some things that “astonish” even many of its members. It's true that many of the members of the Church were surprised to see such a calm organization organizing and funding rallies and communications to support Proposition 8 in California, and other initiatives over the years in many states. Generally the Church of Jesus Christ stays out of political issues, but the subject of preserving marriage between one man and one woman is not a question of debate for God nor his followers.

While I know that such divisive issues will continue to surround us in the coming years, we can realize that after the astonishment should come a desire to share our wonder, search for truth, and broadcast love.

Witnesses

I'm back, let's hope for good. Now I'll be working with a group topic from my New Testament class about the ancient Church of Jesus Christ, comparing it to a current event in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You might know that I know that they are one Church and the same Christ. Our topic for this week is the nature of witnesses in the New Testament within the gospels. Our teacher focused on how the way the gospels are written, with special attention given to certain characters within the story, shows evidence of its truthfulness. It names people who could have likely been interviewed based on their presence in other writings, and it leaves out the names of people who were never interviewed, who couldn't have met up with the author later and thus could not have given their view of what happened surrounding Jesus.

Witnesses are an especially important part of the production of a Testament (the roots for both words are the same in most contexts). Without them, there is almost no way that a body of scripture could be made. The New Testament is in essence a primary source document, written by people who were there, or spoke directly to those that were, even though the book has been copied, translated and changed many dozens of times. The story of Jesus in Mark is what we've focused on first, and our professor pointed out that even though Mark (probably the “John Mark” in Acts) was not there personally for many of the stories, he knew Simon Peter, the senior apostle, and many of the other leaders of the ancient Church. Having their personal stories of what they saw and heard with their own senses can help the reader understand the life of the Savior better than just a novel's version. In fact, 'hearing' the testimonies of Christ's followers can speak through the Holy Spirit to our hearts that these things are true and having the Spirit, we can understand the correct interpretation of the words of the scriptures.

M. Russell Ballard, an Apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said in his commencement address for BYU graduates in August: “Whenever you are having a conversation about the Church, you should try to make this a point. We follow Jesus Christ. We try to live as He taught. That’s the basis of our faith and our lives. This is the strongest non-defensive position you can take. You don’t have to defend or justify anything when you are basing your position on the teachings of the Son of God, and the fact that you are doing your best to keep His commandments.” I add my witness to his that when members of the church start the conversation, when they share their testimonies and spiritual experiences when appropriate (not as the world sees, but as God does), only good will come and all will be edified by what they learn. Truth.